Empower Network affiliate’s YouTube account banned
Alex Pereira joined Empower Network around October 2012 and regularly publishes articles to his Empower Network blog under the account “arkam77”.
Pereira also had a YouTube account which he recently uploaded some marketing videos he’d created, which he then embedded into his Empower Network blog. Ultimately of course the goal was to recruit new Empower Network affiliates and build Pereira’s downline.
Disaster struck however on February 3rd 2013, when YouTube banned Pereira’s account.
Enraged and believing his account to have been terminated for “copyright infringement”, Pereira immediately fired off an email to YouTube demanding an explanation.
Google’s “automated” reply only served to incense Pereira even more and, true to Empower Network’s much prescribed “badass” form, Pereira (photo right) took to Google’s product forums to express his displeasure:
The email I just received does not prove my copyright infringement or even expresses any details of the reason behind the suspension of my account.
The worst part is… I was answered by a FUCKING BOT!
Youtube is a business/service and right now your costumer (sic) services are shit!
I find it to be most disrespectful, to have suspended my account and not even give a reason behind such a decision, besides telling me it was flagged and there was copyright infringement.
Well what I can tell you is that there was no copyright infringement on my part has I created the videos with great effort on my part and used only free music available on live.freeplaymusic.com
And after all that you guys answer me with a fucking bot? That is just disrespectful.
That just comes to show, how much you care about your costumers (sic)… Apparently we’re barely worth a bot.
Well, let me tell you what you are worth to me.
Costumer (sic) Service = 0 = SHIT
You guys better be careful you might come to see your empire fall… All it takes is just one person… The other will follow…
At least it will be an actual person and not a fucking bot!
I still want to know why and I want proof that my activity was in fact in violation of the terms of use.
Did you answer my questions? NO
Did you even looked at the situation I was bringing up? NO
BECAUSE IT WAS A FUCKING BOT
IF I TAKE THE TIME TO ACTUALLY GO AND FILL OUT A FUCKING FORM AND ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS, MEANS I WANT YOU TO ACTUALLY TAKE THE TIME TO SPEAK TO ME!
GIVE ME DETAILS OR YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME AGAIN! I’M WAY TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND BY COMPANIES LIKE YOU!
Yours sincerely,
Alex P.
At the time of publication, Google has not publicly replied to Pereira’s requests for further details (initially published on Febuary 4th).
One reason could be due to Pereira’s misunderstanding of why his account was terminated.
In the email that set off Pereira’s forum post above, Google referenced the video “”I’m No Wussy Talks Internet Marketing with Rui Gabriel Part 3 – Empower Network & Lazy Millionaires”.
On his Empower Network blog promoting the video,
Pereira’s describes it as
The third and last part of the I’m No Wussy Talks Internet Marketing!
In this last part we talk about our systems, mainly the Empower Network Viral Blogging System and the Lazy Millionaires League.
I’m not entirely sure what the “Lazy Millionaires League” is, however there’s a big banner for Empower Network on their website homepage:
So one would assume it’s some sort of affiliate co-op that Alex Pereira belongs to.
In a blog post advertising a “traffic genius” job position, the league describes itself as being
a passionate team of unconventional thinkers and doers who have big ideas and the guts to try and accomplish them. We are big on culture.
Our business thrives on speed and forward thinking. And we welcome anyone who thinks they’re badass enough to apply to join our team.
Oh, and we cuss a lot, our dress codes prohibits suits and ties, and we don’t “think outside the box”… because we threw the box out a long time ago.
In any case, contrary to Pereira’s belief that his YouTube account was terminated for copyright infringement, visiting the link to the now deleted video reveals it was infact removed for ‘a violation of YouTube’s policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content‘.
And not only have Google removed the offending video but having deemed Pereira’s violation “severe” enough, have suspended his entire YouTube account (“Arkhotik”):
The above message does mention copyright infringement (possibly what has confused Pereira), however the video in question was removed for violating YouTube’s ‘policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content’.
Spam and commercially deceptive content is self-explanatory, with Google defining scam videos as occurring when ‘a user posts a video which contains information to trick the viewer for their own financial gain’.
It is unclear which of the above three policies (or if it was a combination) Pereira’s Empower Network promotion video violated, however YouTube are clear on the penalties for uploading such content:
Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination. If your account is terminated, you won’t be allowed to create any new accounts.
At the time of publication it is unclear what specifically YouTube objected to in Pereira’s Empower Network marketing video, or whether future action will be taken against any other Empower Network affiliates advertising the scheme on the website.
After reviewing Empower Network here on BehindMLM, with members gifting 100% of their monthly membership fees to eachother I concluded that it was nothing more than a cash gifting scheme with no retail customers.
In August 2012 Facebook terminated the official Empower Network Facebook account and effectively banned the company from participating in or being marketed on the social network.
I guess I understand Google view point but yet it has come to see Google HATES almost any and all Network Marketing on YouTube or Adwords. I not sure why but I assume they just like to be a bully.
I understand Adwods maybe but YouTube is a place to share videos, as long as it not porn what is the problem? (just my opinion)
Feel free to report videos involving scams. 🙂 And I mean nationally known scams, like FHTM, Zeek, TVI Express, and so on. 🙂
Considering that he’s not “sharing” a video, but is instead using Youtube as a place to run ‘free’ advertising that is promoting alleged services that are a rip-off, it’s nice to see this kind of stuff pulled.
The reality is, folks like him depend on getting in and getting out quickly before people wise up to what’s going on. He’s not the only out there using youtube, facebook and other social media sites to snare the unsuspecting.
Create a fake facebook page, run your filmed at home commercial on YouTube, get several of your cohorts to ‘like’ and ‘share’ it and soon enough you’ve got people falling for your scam.
It’s not just Empower Network videos that are getting banned. It’s YouTube wide.. they’re now asking ANYONE to flag ANY VIDEO under their new “YouTube Deputy Program”.
@Nan
Obviously there’s some qualification criteria involved though when the video is reviewed. It’s not like a video gets flagged and bam it’s gone.
In 2011, YouTube banned some promos for JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, the 2-percent-a-day “program” operated by Frederick Mann.
One of the Ponzi racketeers raced to the Ponzi boards to declare that YouTube couldn’t contain him because he “own[ed] over 500 accounts.”
The thinking has gotten so corrupt that some people apparently have concluded they have either a birthright or a Constitutional right to use YouTube to promote in-your-face scams.
In 2010, the CFTC accused Ronald W. Smith Jr. of Virginia of using YouTube to promote his Ponzi scheme. A federal judge issued an asset freeze and an order prohibiting the destruction of documents, including the YouTube video and other evidence.
Criminal charges ultimately were filed. This is the outcome:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/vaw/news/2012/cunningham_etal_26mar2012.html
PPBlog
Empower Network is NOT a gifting scam is it?
I mean if I am able make 100% commission as an affiliate of EN selling THEIR valuable products to someone that teaches how to market like a bad ass on the internet, legally, ethically, etc.
How is that a GIFTING scam? Because 1 of 5 sales gets passed up to my direct sponsor. They same happens for me from my sponsorees.
All you opinionated, uninformed people with bogus opinions make me laugh!
You’re not selling anything, you don’t own the Empower Network domain or webhosting – nor do you own access to it. Empower Network don’t own WordPress, so they can’t “sell it”.
Empower Network own their domain and webhosting, and the gifted amounts each month are not paid to them but instead are gifted to upline members in the scheme.
Your downlife gift 100% of their monthly gifting fees to you each month and pay EN $19.95 seperately to participate in the scheme.
The passing of every 5th sale to the uplines only qualifies EN as an MLM cash gifting scheme, as opposed to just a being a single level cash gifting scheme.
Obvious is obvious. Cash gifting schemes have been around for years, just because you whack a blog and internet marketing training onto the basic gifting business model doesn’t all of a sudden make it not gifting.
Cash gifting schemes are no laughing matter. Especially when millions of dollars are involved.
Guys, when Empower started, within a few months they were shut down because the govt had to make sure they were NOT a scam but a true biz. They were back up running shortly after…..because it is not a scam.
You make 100% commissions on the FIRST sale, then passup every other one until number , then you keep 7,8,9,and 10, and then you 4 out of 5 after that…for each product level.
You are selling the training which teaches you how to market only in turn OR how to sell any other product or biz you want to apply it to. Because of their crazy high Alexa rating and authority site, they can get a real world business crazy internet traffic.
Be informed, not careless. THAT is why Empower Network is so hot.
@Buzz
Oh come on, seriously? That’s a truckload of BS right there.
Yes we know how a cash gifting scam works. You pass up membership fees to your upline and people you recruit pass them up to you. Got it.
You’re not selling anything, you just gift your upline a fixed fee each month. If you pay EN an additional sum, they let you participate in the scheme.
I had a look at the Alexa statistics the other day for the Empower Network domain. For all the SEO benefit marketing bullshit spun by Empower Network affiliates, just 5% of the domain’s traffic is from search engines.
The EN domain itself doesn’t even rank 1st for the term “empower network”, it’s 4th or 5th (google.com, custom search off).
What does that tell you?
F.Y.I Youtube has started releasing peoples accounts as many were falsely flagged by malicious people and eventually suspended.
I figured that you may find this relevant to this article since you do not have an update on this matter.
Given that Youtube themselves review flagged videos before deciding to terminate accounts, I find that highly unlikely.
Yes, it’s true. Here’s proof 🙂
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/539564_10200395925922022_171993626_n.jpg
Uh… and who does that screenshot belong to? The “original message” is cut off thus the email doesn’t tell us much. Could just belong to some random.
In anycase, even if a few EN affiliates get their accounts back, a whole bunch of people were terminated and it’s not like YouTube is going to reverse so many of them.
The linked message specifies “suspension”, perhaps those with minor infractions are having their accounts re-instated after fixing whatever caused them to get suspended in the first place. YT don’t terminate accounts lightly.
Research around and you will find this to be a fact instead of just assuming and firing back without any due diligence.
This is an assumption not a fact….will EVERYONE get there accounts back? probably not…..will more people get them back, probably so.
There is no fixing a video once an account is suspended. Research youtubes practices and you will find this to be a fact.
Do you know YT procedures and practices for accounts being suspended? Just facts please
I did. All you’ve provided in a screenshot that could have been from anyone. It proves nothing without the “original message” context, which would prove it’s actually related to EN.
What were you saying about assumptions again?
Videos however can be removed and accounts reinstated.
They’re on their website champ. Youtube themselves review accounts and videos before terminating uploader’s accounts. A suspension or termination is not something they take lightly.
This is well-known across Google as a company.
I have a 6 year old YouTube account. In January, I received three YouTube strikes in quick succession, the third during a 2 week suspension caused by the first 2 strikes. The reason given for 2 of the strikes were “copyright infringement”.
I lost my account completely in January. I could not even view anything on YouTube, nor appeal against anything because it happened so quickly and I no longer had access to the videos and the specific reasons for their banning.
I wrote several emails to YouTube, asking for access to my account so I could appeal. Three days ago, I received an email advising me my account had been re-instated:
I then wrote thanking them and asking if I could access the three flagged videos as they no longer appeared on my account.
Yesterday, the three flagged videos re-appeared in my account with a link allowing me to appeal which I did. The interesting thing is the reasons for their removal have been changed from “copyright infringement” to “violating terms of use”
So my fingers are crossed I’ll lose this black mark against my account. It was very inconvenient accessing YouTube via incognito browser pages.
See how you go, it’ll be interesting to see if you get the videos back. The “violating terms of use” pretty much confirms the whole “spam, scams and deceptive commercial content” policy violation.
I suspect people might get their videos back if they were unrelated to EN but just featured a spam referral link in the video description. If the video itself is related to EN you’re probably not going to get it back.
An addition to my comment above when I click on the three flagged videos, this is what appears:
Lmao I hate the very site of these 2 idiots that Wood is a nut case and EN is a crock of shit.
Since there appears to be a lot of hostility toward this Empower Network deal, what is a reasonable resolution? There appears to be a lot of support and complaint about this company.
I looked at SEC.gov, FTC.gov, BBB in Florida, Attorney General, and Ripoff.com so far. Nothing is clear rather more opinionated or disgruntled attitude. I cannot find enough information that supports claiming it is a Ponzi or Pryamid scheme against the true definition.
FB and YT will respond quickly if anyone marks EN affiliate posts as Spam or such. So that is not a true indicator that the business is Faulted. Could just as easily be competitive foul play.
Is this company truly bad? Why? If I choose to join, I want to really now what the problem is.
1. WordPress is free so Empower Network can’t charge for it. Hence the $25 gifting scheme. If an MLM company is not taking payment for a product, they aren’t selling it (neither directly or through their affiliates).
Affiliates simply gift eachother a specified amount each month. Access the blog, don’t access the blog, it doesn’t matter, just pay the person who recruited you each month.
Once the base of the pyramid can’t find enough affiliates to recruit, people stop paying their monthly gifting fees and the scheme collapses.
2. Anybody who made money with EN sold tickets to the events (which is why they push them so hard).
As per the FTC (November 2012):
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/inv08-bottom-line-about-multi-level-marketing-plans
Ask your upline how many non-affiliates attended the last event. Ask them how many non-affiliates have bought tickets to the next event.
Nobody in their right mind is dropping $3000 or whatever it is on an EN event, unless it qualifies them to charge other people thousands of dollars to attend the same event.
Therein lie your answers.
Why limit yourself to deciding if Empower is a “ponzi OR pyramid”
Why not throw in “scam” or “fraud” or “misleading” or “overhyped” or even “unlikely to make money for anyone except a chosen few”
As a side note, what the heck is the “true definition” of a ponzi ??
Can it be a “little bit” ponzi like someone can be a “little bit” pregnant ??
I didn’t get the impression the EN was selling word press. I thought that the were just using it within for the site itself. Sort of like using SnagIt to piece together info and post on documents.
I looked up the term gifting (Hadn’t heard that term before). I guess that one is debatable. Diction states, “Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation”. So this would be a matter of whether you choose to be affiliated, right (knowing upfront that some of our compensation/commission is going to the person above you)?
There can’t be successes in any business that I can foresee. There are always going to be people who can’t sell, manufacture product, operation systems, etc. It makes sense of what you say that those who cannot acquire affiliates of there own, may quit the business (and logic would permit that compensation is lost from the termination), but I don’t see where there is based to collapse.
I don’t know about the ticket selling thing. It would be considered another product saleable item right? No different than selling EN products and/or service. I have a hard time faulting the salesman for selling. But doesn’t it make sense that a company legitimize who gains entry to their gathering?
The remarks you placed in green box enclosure is reasonable.
Does the sponsor/upline have the ability to see who bought tickets? I recently join in April and I bought a ticket for $75 dollars. Not a major bind. I don’t even consider the flight and hotel, because I think that is given that I support my own stay. There are too many members for the business to sustain lodging for the masses.
Anyhow, thank you for enlightening me. I will ask different questions to my upline to ensure that I am collecting valid and realistic information.
Thank you friend.
They aren’t. You gift your upline $25 a month, EN let you use WordPress on their server.
WordPress is free, so you’re not paying for that. You don’t own the domain or the EN theme, so it’s not that either.
Furthermore you pay your upline, not EN. Whack on an MLM compensation structure and that’s gifting right there.
With the exception that the events actually are a “product” owned and produced by EN.
Retail then becomes a problem with the events (which is where most of the money is made), specifically the complete lack of it.
Of course they do, they earn commissions on them.
I forget the exact prices (been a while since I looked at it) but the problematic areas that generate the majority of company revenue are the Inner Circle group and the regular events. Both of which quite obviously have no retail appeal (cost runs into the thousands).
Check with your upline for specific figures (anyone who’s not an affiliate) that has purchased these two items from them.
Then take it one step further and try to break down your upline’s income, sorting affiliate-funded revenue vs. retail. Do the same (if possible) for your upline’s upline.
Don’t be surprised if you receive a hostile reception.
Bottom line in MLM is that if you don’t have retail you’ve got a problem. EN have only once released accurate figures on true retail and affiliates and that was with the blogging platform, it was a 66%/33% spread, tilted towards affiliate-revenue.
With even less appeal the other stuff (where the money is made) would be even more tilted affiliate-funding wise. Infact I’d be very surprised to learn of any retail occuring at those levels.
Think about the cost to attend EN’s premium events and what the Inner Circle membership provides, then ask yourself why on Earth anyone would attend/spend thousands of dollars without signing up as an affiliate.
The WordPress blogging platform ruse is just to get you in the door and get used to the idea of gifting your upline.
Actually, no it’s not.
CASH gifting is illegal in every state of the union.
Cash gifters often quote The U.S. gifting rules are found in the IRS Tax Code, Title 26, Sections 2501-2504 and 2511 which says in essence “one or more individuals can give a cash gift to another individual of up to $13,000 each per calendar year without any tax liability to either the giver or receiver of the gift, because the tax on the gift has already been paid”
The problem is, the IRS is only concerned with the tax aspect of “gifting”
Every state and Federal authority, on the other hand, treat cash gifting as a type of pyramid or endless chain recruiting scheme, whether tax obligations have been fulfilled or not.
What’s even more scary is, it is illegal to both organize AND to participate in cash gifting / pyramid club schemes.
You are REQUIRED to “gift” to your upline, which means your “gifts” are solicited and you have an “expectation of return” by virtue of the fact by “gifting” your upline, it qualifies you to participate in the same “gifting” process.
you area not letting me comment anymore?
Some comments are automatically held for moderation. Even mine. Have patience.
The problem is the nature of its product and its comp plan, which you should read the FIRST article Oz wrote on Empowered.
https://behindmlm.com/companies/empower-network-review-customers-or-affiliates/
Simply ask yourself the question: what do they sell, and how can you sell it to someone else? (And what do you make off of it?) (And do I have to join in order to sell it?)
@FirstTime
Nothing was in the spam bin or moderation queue from you, not sure what you’re talking about.
*sigh* Crazy conspiracy of persecution again?
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-crazy-conspiracy-of-persecution.html
OZ you are not understanding some basic things in business software world. You keep claiming wordpress is free. I agree it is free. But it cost money to host your site. GoDaddy charges money for hosting Word Press. Empower Network does the same.
Only the software running is free. But the computer, electricity, and resources needed to maintain the server cost money. There are also custom modifications they have made and paid for.
Second…what do you call a product you pay thousands of dollars with the hopes it will allow you to make money some day with no guarantee it will work. You may say Empower network…. But others call it college.
Empower network product is information that teaches you how to market online. If you want more information you must pay more money just like you do in college.
Third…The whole gifting is false. If you take on the additional cost to recruit others on your team to teach them, their is a cost to do it. Advertisements are not free. You will find many successful online network marketers spending thousands in advertisements.
The fact they give 100% commission on nearly all recruits is to cover your cost and allow you to make a profit. Without that it would be a scheme because you would never make money from advertisements, video, and website created to teach new people.
You have a difficult time understanding business cost and how they add up.
1. GoDaddy are not an MLM income opportunity. Fail.
2. GoDaddy sell web hosting, on which you can install WordPress. EN does not sell web-hosting. Fail again.
WordPress is free wherever it is installed. EN directly gift eachother so the company is not charging for access to anything.
Irrelevant derail attempt.
Furthermore people actually pay for college, thry don’t just gift thousands of dollars to students who recruited them into the college.
Unless you pay for it, it’s not a product affiliates are purchasing.
The person who recruited you didn’t pay for anything from EN (other than qualification to receive gifting payments via those they recruit by participating themselves in the scheme.
Whether there are external recruitment costs is irrelevant to the flow of money within EN, which is from affiliate to affiliate and constitutes a simple pass-up gifting scheme.
This thread is so far skewed. Alex has his YouTube video account blocked, deleted, or terminated. The bottom line is that somewhere in the user license agreement, we suspect, the company (YouTube or Google, whatever) has the right to do whatever it wants based on criteria they so choose to use.
It doesn’t take much more than a few click complaints that video(s) are inappropriate and then YouTube can mitigate the problem by taking the action that they had.
The issue seems more that the user (video owner) has little to no recourse in justifying keeping the content or correcting it.
This has nothing to do with EN at all. This entire thread became a personal rant (YES, I had partaken as well) rather than a discussion of the validity of video owner’s issue.
EN and many other business are not the problem; it’s lack of education and/or first-hand knowledge that lead most people to bad conclusions.
Good Luck!
YouTube explicitly terminated the account for publishing videos that violated their policy against “spam, scams and commercially deceptive content”.
You can pretend that after a manual review YouTube blocked the video for other reasons but the language they used clearly demonstrates otherwise.